Chito Gascon
Chito Gascon | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2017 | |
| 7th Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines | |
| In office June 18, 2015 – October 9, 2021 | |
| President | Benigno Aquino III Rodrigo Duterte |
| Preceded by | Etta Rosales |
| Succeeded by | Leah Tanodra Armamento |
| Member of the Philippine House of Representatives for the Youth | |
| In office c. 1990 – June 30, 1992 | |
| Appointed by | Corazon Aquino |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Edgar M. Avila Cesar Chavez |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jose Luis Martin Cosgayon Gascon 26 May 1964 |
| Died | 9 October 2021 (aged 57) Metro Manila, Philippines |
| Party | Liberal |
| Alma mater | University of the Philippines Diliman St Edmund's College, Cambridge |
Jose Luis Martin Cosgayon Gascon (Spanish: [xoˈse ˈlwis maɾˈtiŋ ɡasˈkon]; May 26, 1964 – October 9, 2021), also known as Chito Gascon (Spanish: [ˈtʃito ɣasˈkon]), was a Filipino lawyer, civic organizer, and human rights activist. In 2015, he was appointed by then President Benigno S. Aquino III as the Chair of the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines serving a term from 2015 to 2021.
Prior his stint in the Commission on Human Rights, he served as member of the Human Rights Victims' Claims Board, which administered reparations for martial law victims.
He was the youngest member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. As a member of the Philippine House of Representatives representing the youth sector, he spearheaded the passage of pertinent legislation for the creation of the Sanggunian Kabataan (under the Local Government Code) and Republic Act 7610, a special law providing protection to children from abuse.